Brief online interventions for LGBTQ young adult mental and behavioral health: A randomized controlled trial in a high-stigma, low-resource context.
J Consult Clin Psychol
; 88(5): 429-444, 2020 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32271053
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To identify scalable interventions for improving sexual minority mental health and health-risk behavior, this study tested the efficacy of two self-guided online writing interventions-expressive writing and self-affirmation. To reach sexual minority young adults living in high-stigma, low-resource settings, we developed and tested these interventions in Appalachian Tennessee.METHOD:
In consultation with sexual minority young adults (n = 10) and stakeholders (n = 10) living in Appalachian Tennessee, we adapted these two writing interventions that we then delivered to 108 local sexual minority young adults (Mage = 23.68, SD = 3.11). Participants, representing diverse sexual and gender identities and socioeconomic backgrounds, were randomly assigned to participate in a 3-session expressive writing intervention, self-affirmation intervention, or neutral control. Participants completed mental health and health-risk behavior measures at baseline, postintervention, and 3-month follow-up.RESULTS:
Compared to the neutral control, expressive writing exerted 3-month improvements in depressive symptoms (d = 0.48) and general psychological distress (d = 0.36) whereas self-affirmation exerted improvement in suicidal ideation (d = 0.62) and drug abuse (d = 0.59). Participants who were exposed to greater contextual minority stressors common in rural regions (i.e., discrimination and victimization) experienced significantly greater 3-month reductions in depression from expressive writing and self-affirmation compared to control. Those who experienced greater discrimination also experienced significantly greater 3-month reductions in suicidality from self-affirmation compared to control.CONCLUSION:
Brief writing interventions exert significant impact on the mental health of young adult sexual minorities, especially those exposed to minority stress. Future research can consider strategies for population-level implementation, especially in high-stigma, low-resource settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Psicoterapia
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Sintomas Comportamentais
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Estigma Social
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Minorias Sexuais e de Gênero
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Intervenção Baseada em Internet
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
País como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article